'My life expectancy was mid-20s so I’m past my due date': David Howard's journey to The Open 

Cork's David Howard is Royal Birkdale-bound.  Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images

When you delve into David Howard’s golfing journey to The 154th Open Championship, it is no wonder the Fota Island amateur considers himself lucky to be teeing up at Royal Birkdale in two weeks.

There was no fortune in the way the 27-year-old from Cork’s progressed through The Open’s 36-hole Final Qualifying round at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland, on Monday as Howard claimed one of five available places to earn his major championship debut with two strokes to spare. 

Yet getting himself in the position to stake his shot against the game’s greatest has been a different story.

From an early age, Howard has been battling the odds, diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a seven-year-old, and years later his game’s progression delayed by the Covid shutdown. 

Just three years ago, his golfing handicap was not low enough to make the Munster Strokeplay field but the Irish amateur is now on the right track. 

Winning the East of Ireland Championship at Co. Louth in 2025 provided the lift-off and still, he reached Final Qualifying only as first reserve, having just missed out in regional qualifying at The Island two weeks prior.

“It's been a good couple of weeks, going through the regional qualifier first at The Island, which I ended up in the play-off there and I got in as a reserve and I ended up getting into the final qualifier as a reserve. So I squeezed in there and yeah, nice to come out with one of the spots,” Howard told the Irish Examiner as he travelled home to Currabinny, near Carrigaline, with caddie and father John in the camper van they travel to tournaments in.

“I suppose I showed that I can tee it up and beat a lot of the pros. I take a lot of confidence from it that way. The mental side of things, I think I handled things very well for the whole day yesterday. I got a bit nervy coming in but I felt like I kept it together pretty well for the most part.

“So I take a lot of confidence from that. The game was good and I handled things pretty well, I think.” 

The former mechanic paid tribute to the support he receives from his home club, not least Fota Island head pro Kevin Morris.

“I kind of grew up working through everything and figured it out myself but the last couple of years now I've been doing a bit of work with Kevin. Just the basic stuff where you check in with him every couple of weeks and the last year or two.

He just keeps it really simple and he's a good person to chat to. He's got a lot of good advice in fairness to him. A lot of credit goes out to Kev. He's a great guy and he's great support to me in fairness.

“The support from the club has been unbelievable. They've been great support over the last few years since they kind of started playing championship golf, Kevin Morris in the pro shop, his team and all the members have been very supportive.

“I hear there's loads of them after getting tickets and everything, so it's great. I can't ask for a better club now in fairness.” 

Howard will repay that support by representing Fota Island on the weekend before he travels to Birkdale, near Southport.

“I'm playing Interpros next week for Munster and then playing Barton Shield on the weekend before The Open for Fota. So a busy couple of weeks ahead, but looking forward to a couple of days off here now and relaxing my body for a couple of days.

“Hopefully get to win for the club first. That's important.” Howard will relish the opportunity that follows, “first of all,” he added, “playing in Royal Birkdale”.

“I haven't played there before. We actually passed it when we were at the British Am there a couple of weeks ago. We were staying nearby, so we saw all the stands and we popped in for a look. Little did I know I'd be coming back there in a few weeks.

“So just playing the course and then obviously teeing it up with the best players in the world and seeing how I fare against them. It's going to be a special week.” 

He is not looking too far beyond The Open, but conceded: “If I do well there, I'm sure that could change a lot of things. I suppose it's a big achievement getting there in the first place, so we'll see where that takes me. It's pretty fresh, serious golf or championship golf in the last two to three years.

“We're on a good trajectory at the moment, going from the Munster Strokeplay. I actually didn't get into the Munster Strokeplay three years ago. I wasn't low enough.

"So from not getting into the Munster Strokeplay three years ago to getting into the British Open, we're on the right track.

“I've talked about it before when I Googled CF (Cystic Fibrosis) when I finally got a phone. My life expectancy was mid-20s so I’m past my due date, you could say, now I'm doing what I'm doing.

“I'm pretty healthy and fit. I'm really happy and lucky in a way with the advancement of medication and everything. It's all going on the right track. I consider myself lucky in one way or another.”